


Woody's Son

by Blue_Hood



Category: Transformers: Rescue Bots
Genre: Alternate Universe, What-If
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:55:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23108083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Hood/pseuds/Blue_Hood
Summary: Meet Tommy Burns, the son of Woody Burns, and see how his presence affects the Rescue Bots.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	1. The New Burns

Chief Burns sat his family down one evening, “I got a call from the mainland.”

“What was it about?” asked Dani.

“Woody, it seems, has a son and with Woody being Woody, child services is having trouble locating him so they’ve asked me to take custody instead.”

“His mom’s dead, that’s awful.”

“Actually, they can’t seem to find her either.”

Kade said “So let me get this straight, the kid says he’s Woody’s kid but hasn’t said anything about his mom.”

“No,” Charlie sighed, “The boy has amnesia, they did a DNA test at the hospital.”

Graham finished, “We’re all in the system as first responders.”

“When do you pick him up?” Cody asked “And what’s his name?”

“I just want to make sure you’re all okay with this.” Charlie turned to his youngest, “You especially, Cody, he’s your age so he’ll be staying in your room.”

Kade said “Of course we’re not gonna leave our cousin out in the cold, whatever his name is.”

Graham asked “How bad’s the amnesia?”

“He doesn’t even remember his name.”

“Does that mean we get to name him?”

Kade said “He’s not a puppy, wait a minute-”

Charlie laughed “He’s not a puppy but we do get to name him.”

“Awesome.”

“You have no ideas, do you?” asked Dani.

“Well, no.”

“Let’s meet him first and see if any names jog his memory,” suggested Cody.

Graham said “That’s not a bad idea. Familiar sights and sounds are often memory triggers for amnesia patients.”

Charlie said “As great of an idea as that is, I need a name for the discharge paperwork.”

Cody asked “Can I go with you to check him out? Please, dad.”

“Sure, we’ll go tomorrow. Tonight, I need you to clean up your room so we can set up the inflatable in there until we get a bed for your cousin.”

Frankie came over while he was doing that, “Your dad filled me in, you have some mystery cousin.”

“Yeah and we’re gonna try to guess his name.”

“I’d guess Thomas or John, those are both generic.”

Cody laughed “Can you imagine what kind of dad Uncle Woody would be?”

“No, not really.” Frankie asked “What do you think he’ll be like?”

“I don’t really know. I didn’t know Uncle Woody had a kid.” Cody chuckled, “From the sound of it, Uncle Woody doesn’t know he has a kid.”

The next day, the three elder Burns siblings wait with Frankie to meet their cousin when the ferry came in. Charlie and Cody stepped off the ferry with a dark haired boy between them, “Meet Thomas Burns.”

Frankie asked “So I was right?”

While his dad introduced his siblings, Cody answered “He responded to Thomas and David but we’re not sure if either is his name or if they’re just common.”

“Not John?”

“Not as a name.” Cody asked his friend “Wanna help me show Tommy around?”

“Already got a nickname?”

Cody shrugged “It fits, y’know, with him being Uncle Woody’s son.”

“I’ll help you show him around.” They turned “Assuming Kade doesn’t scare him off.” 

Cody sighed and joined his family “Graham, didn’t you say it was a bad idea to crowd him?”

“Right. Kade, you need to give him some space.”

Cody turned to his cousin, “C’mon, I’ll show you around town.” Leading him over to Frankie, he said “Tommy, this is Frankie, she’s a friend.”

“Hi.”

Once they were past the docks, Tommy began looking around in wonder. Cody explained “Griffin Rock has the most advanced tech in the world, which leads to some interesting cases for dad and the rest of the family.”

“Awesome.”

Frankie said “My dad makes a lot of the new tech. We can head over to his lab if you want but I was thinking we’d show you a few places in town first.”

“We should hit the Hall of Inspiration museum,” Cody told Thomas “So you can see the history of Griffin Rock.”

Frankie told him “That’s only if you want to.”

“I do.”

“Alright then.”

Tommy jumped at President Arthur then peered closer. “Tour?” The hologram obliged, showing him around and giving him a history lesson.

After the museum, they showed him a few places he needed to know. He seemed to like the park more than the arcade, trying to climb on a handrail before Cody said “You’re supposed to hold onto it as you walk down the steps.”

They ended the tour at the firehouse, Tommy pointed at the rock wall “Can I climb that?”

“Sure but first you need to put on a harness.”

Dani came out in time to hear Cody’s answer, “Come on in, Cody’s harness should fit.”

While they were getting ready to climb, Charlie asked his youngest “How’d it go?”

“Good, I think. He tried to climb on a handrail at the park, if that means anything.”

“Alright. I’m gonna see if I can get in touch with Woody.”

“I know.”

“You did good with him, at the hospital and here in Griffin Rock.” Charlie smiled at him “And something tells me Woody’s gonna be just fine letting us keep his son, just as soon as someone can find him and tell him he has a son.”

Cody asked “Is Tommy gonna be in my class?”

Charlie chuckled “I think so but I’m waiting on some paperwork before I can enroll him.”

Cody looked at the rock wall “I don’t think he’ll mind waiting.”

From where she stood beside Dani, Frankie said “He sure is fast.”

“Yep, he’s a natural.”

Charlie said “That definitely means something, I’ll let his social worker know.”

A week after moving to Griffin Rock, Thomas Burns began his first day of school with his cousin Cody. The teacher introduced him to the class and told him to sit next to Frankie. Huxley Prescott caught wind of the new mystery boy shortly after and tried to get an interview. Cody took care of it “My cousin has amnesia, he can’t answer any of your questions. Please, leave us alone.”

“Let’s hear it from him, kid.”

Charlie arrived shortly after that “Let’s not. Cody, Tommy, get in the cruiser.”

Frankie, who walked with them, asked “Can I get a ride too, Chief Burns?”

“Sure thing, Frankie. And Huxley, you can’t just chase kids walking home from school for a story, it’s wrong and dangerous. There’s an intersection just up the block, you could've chased them into oncoming traffic.”

“My sincere apologies, Chief Burns but-”

“No buts, my nephew shouldn’t have to explain his existence to anyone, much less you. Understood?”

“Yes, Chief.”

Charlie climbed into the car and drove to the intersection, “Is everyone okay?”

Cody said “It was close but we’re good.”

“How close?”

“Tommy started to have a panic attack but Dani told Frankie what to do and we talked him down.”

“Alright. I’m gonna take you three up to Doc’s lab, stay there until me or one of your siblings comes to get you.”

“You got it, dad.”

While they were at the lab, Charlie, Kade and Graham were getting a crash course from Dani on how to handle a medical emergency involving Tommy.

“Really, the best thing is to catch it early on when he’s still somewhat aware that what he’s seeing is not what’s happening. I’ll talk to him later, find out what he saw but if you catch him having one, you need to anchor him in the present. A light touch and a calm voice are best, walk him through breathing slowly and if he’s saying something, listen so you can counter it with facts. Dad, Kade, if he has one in your work vehicles, do not turn the siren on or speed up to rush him to safety. The loud noise and sudden change would be detrimental.”

Charlie asked “What if we don’t catch it early?”

“Then you try to get him away from people and wait it out, maintain a calming presence at all times.”

Graham said “Both you and Cody said he likes climbing, would giving him something to climb help if the usual methods don’t work?”

“Possibly but that would be better after the episode has passed, to get his mind off whatever he saw.”

“Anything else we can do or should know?” asked Charlie.

“Uh, let the school know it’s alright for him to leave if he starts to panic, space is key and we don’t want him stuck somewhere with a trigger. Really, guys, I’m almost as lost as you are. He could probably use a therapist but I’m not sure how many of those would be able to handle a kid like Tommy. Of course, for all we know, this could’ve been a simple flashback. I’ll need to talk to him, find out what he saw before I can give any real advice.”

“Frankie said you told her how to handle these emergencies. I’ll look into therapy but it might be a bit challenging since I don’t have Woody to sign off on it.”

“You need Uncle Woody to sign off on therapy?” Kade said “That makes no sense.”

“I might need him to, I’ll call his social worker first. If he really needs this then as his legal guardian, I should be able to provide it. I’m not sure.”

“Right, right.” Kade asked “Where is Tommy, anyway?”

“At Doc Greene’s lab with Cody and Frankie.”

Apparently seeing how close he came to hurting kids was an eye-opener for Huxley, he moved on to better, safer stories. When Woodrow Burns came to town, Huxley tried to catch him at the pier before Charlie could get him in the cruiser but failed. At the firehouse, Woody smiled at his niece, nephews and “Is that my son?”

“Yeah.” Cody turned to his cousin “Tommy, he’s your dad.”

“Tommy,” Woody came over and knelt in front of Thomas, “Hey there, my boy.”

Dani said “Y’know you can take him with you when you go, Uncle Woody.”

“I can but I don’t think I will unless that’s what you want,” assured Woody. “Charlie’s got more experience in the dad department than I could ever dream of having.”

Tommy looked up “Really?”

“Yes, of course.”


	2. Family of Heroes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How the pilot would change with Tommy

Cody told his cousin “You’re so lucky, you get to go to the mainland with dad.”

“It’s just to pick up the Bots and you know how outsiders feel about kids in their labs,” Tommy argued but he couldn’t help smiling as they went down the stairs to find the others waiting for them “What’s going on?”

“Dad has a last minute announcement of some kind,” answered Graham.

“That’s right.” Charlie smiled at his kids “Cody, you’re gonna be up on stage with the rest of us at today’s announcement as the team’s coordinator.”

Tommy explained “You’ll be working dispatch when we’re not in school.”

Dani asked “What about Tommy?”

Tommy said “I get to go with Uncle Charlie to pick up the Bots, which means I get to ride in them first. And I got my thing with Doc, I don’t need another after school job.” Charlie sighed at the reminder that his nephew called climbing shelves in the lab a job. Doc always had Dither supervise and he had heard stories of how the helper bot put his nephew’s safety above fun, mostly from the boy himself.

“Right. But just so you know, this means you can’t climb on the stage.”

“I know, Uncle Charlie.” Later, Tommy wore a big grin as he looked up at the two rows of rescue vehicles. As his uncle began talking, he elbowed the man “Based on where Optimus is looking, I think those are the real deal and the aliens are-”

Charlie turned “Thanks, Tommy.”

“Smart kid,” said the fire truck.

“You should meet my cousin Graham.” Tommy looked at Charlie “We are gonna tell the others they’re aliens, right? I mean, Cody will probably see right through the robot act and Graham will notice if they move when their handlers aren’t around, like in the garage.”

“Right.” Charlie said “We’ll tell them after the announcement.”

“Great.” Tommy turned back to the bots, “Kade, Graham, Dani and Cody are my cousins. Aside from Cody, they’re also your handlers. What are your names?”

The fire truck answered “I’m Heatwave.”

“Chase.”

“Boulder.”

“Blades.”

“Uh-oh.” Tommy guessed “Blades doesn’t like heights, do you?”

“Not really.”

“Okay, we can work with this.”

Charlie said “I thought it best to bring Tommy along so we can sort out a few things before we head to Griffin Rock.”

Tommy asked “Boulder, can you share images, like maps, with Blades?”

“Of course.”

“Okay, Blades, I’m sorry but since your vehicle is an aircraft, you have to fly and your handler loves heights. If Boulder can map out the quickest route to an emergency then you can fly a bit lower and slower without making Dani mad.” He shrugged “Honestly, I think Dani just likes showing Kade up so if you get there first then she’ll probably calm down. Since you fly, you can go over buildings that Kade has to go around.”

“Okay.”

“It’s just until we can properly introduce you to your handlers, then we can work on communication but if something comes up, you need to know how to work with them while they think you’re robots.” He turned to Heatwave “Your handler’s a glory hog, get used to it but remember, you control how much water comes out of the hose. If you push more water out then the pressure will work against Kade and he’ll struggle to keep his balance.” Then Boulder “You understand fact versus opinion, right?”

“Right.”

“Direct opinion based questions to Uncle Charlie, machines don’t have opinions. Cody and I will help you and Graham get around the culture barrier but he might have trouble, especially once he knows.” He stepped back to address all of the bots “Uncle Charlie made Cody the team coordinator. When in doubt, ask him.”

Chase asked “Do you not have any advice for me?”

“Uh, not really. Just follow Uncle Charlie’s lead. There’s a difference between enforcing the law and serving the people. Cody and I will help you where we can.” He turned to his uncle “Did I miss anything?”

“Not really.”

Tommy ran up to Boulder, “Can I ride in you for the trip to Griffin Rock?”

“Sure.” He opened the door.

“Awesome, thank you.”

Charlie chuckled “Shoulda known you’d want to ride in Graham’s bot.”

As the chief climbed in, Chase asked “Why is that?”

“If Tommy is like any of his cousins, it’s Graham.”

Over the coms, his nephew said “And Dani.”

“Huh, so that’s how that works.” Charlie told him “Remember, stay with Doc in the crowd.”

“I know.” Tommy said “I wonder how Huxley will take the news that the youngest Burns is finally joining the family business.”

“What about you?” asked Boulder.

“I’ll probably head over to Doc Greene’s lab after the announcement if you don’t need me for the intros.”

“Huh?”

Charlie said “Tommy works with Griffin Rock’s chief scientist, Doctor Greene. If we don’t get pulled away on a call then he’ll come home with us to help introduce you to your partners. Otherwise, he’ll go to work. I’d like you to stick around either way and help with the transition.”

“Yeah,” Tommy said “I’ll do that and I guess I should try to speak more clearly for a while.”

“That might be best, Tommy.”

“Wait a second,” Blades asked “If he’s your nephew, where are his parents?”

Tommy answered “My father, Uncle Charlie’s brother is out travelling the world.” He bit his tongue to avoid saying ‘like Indiana Jones’ and instead said “He’s an adventurer, always searching for the truth behind some myths- do you know what a myth is?”

“Yes,” answered Chase “And what of your mother?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Oh,” Blades said “Sorry.”

“It’s fine, I have all the family I need.” Tommy relaxed in his seat, “It was a good question, Blades.”

“Right.” Charlie said “You don’t have to apologize for asking questions. We’ll tell you if we don’t want to answer, okay?” They agreed.

Cody and Tommy switched places just before the announcement, Chief Burns began “Thank you all for coming. I’d like to first introduce my son Cody, who will be acting as our team’s coordinator, allowing us to serve the people of Griffin Rock to the best of our abilities. Griffin Rock has always been on the cusp of new technology,” he continued his speech as planned with his kids moving around the bots to stand beside him. Huxley Prescott got a few shots before they were called away for an emergency at the museum.

As instructed, Boulder directed his question about the flowers to Charlie, who disguised his “Safety first,” response as an order for Tommy to stay back.

After Heatwave caught the falling dinosaur head, Charlie cut off his kids' bickering by saying “Let’s head back to the firehouse.”

The garage doors closed and everyone got out of their vehicles, Tommy asked “Now?”

“Sure.”

The bots all transformed and Kade said “I didn’t tell it to do that either.”

“He,” Tommy said “Not it, he. His name is Heatwave, that’s Chase, Boulder and Blades.” He glared at Graham when his cousin began to speak “I’m not anthropomorphizing, I’m stating a fact. They’re aliens, and ironically all male.”

“What?” Dani said “That’s crazy.”

“Didn’t Blades completely ignore your commands and steer himself?”

“Well, yeah.”

To Kade, “I think we all know what Heatwave did that you didn’t order.” Then Graham, “Boulder consulted Uncle Charlie before moving the flowers. I thought it might help if he stuck to facts and fact-based questions with you.”

“Why?”

“Are you telling me you’re not nervous riding inside him now that you know he’s alive?”

“Well-”

“Graham, if he asks you a question then he actually wants to hear your answer. If it’s a matter of opinion, he’ll ask Uncle Charlie. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“As for the other thing, I don’t think they’d have passenger compartments if it was a problem.”

“I guess.”

Tommy turned to Kade, “I’m gonna tell you what I told Heatwave. You’re a glory hog but he controls the water pressure for your hose, he can turn it up to mess with your balance. Try to play nice.” Then Dani “Boulder and Blades are gonna give you the most efficient route possible so Blades can fly low and slow. As he gets more comfortable flying, you can ease into normal flight patterns. Think you can handle that, Dani?”

“I guess.”

“Well, you’ll have to because Blades is your partner. He’s new to Earth and flying, and you’ve dealt with the former before.”

“What? When?” In response, Tommy merely raised his hand. “Right, with your amnesia.”

“Okay.” Tommy said “Talk to your partners or you won’t get anywhere. Part of their mission is to learn about our culture, the other part is to protect and serve as robots in disguise. You’re responsible for helping them accomplish both parts.”

“Okay?”

Tommy rolled his eyes and waved to his youngest cousin, “Cody and I will help where we can but we’re not their partners.”

Boulder and Graham dove into a discussion on mechanics. Chase asked Charlie about the difference between enforcing the law and serving the people. Dani and Kade needed the most help. Tommy told Cody “You get Kade, I’ll take Dani.” With a nod, they moved as one. People often joked they might as well be twins for how close they were. “Hey.”

Dani said “I don’t need a babysitter, cuz.”

“I was just gonna suggest TV.”

“What?”

“Yeah, remember my holo-screen project?”

“That’s not a bad idea.”

Blades asked “What’s TV?”

“It’s a visual and auditory entertainment media, a central part of modern Earth culture.” Tommy said “Most of the stuff we see on TV is made up. It’s not real.”

Dani said “I’m gonna get the projector.”

Kade noticed her walking out “Hey, how come she gets to leave?”

Tommy said “She’s just getting my holo-screen so we can show the Bots some Earth entertainment.” At the fireman’s blank look, “TV, she’s getting it so we can watch TV with the Bots.”

“You said they’re not robots.”

“We’re not.” Heatwave looked down at him “You, human; me, Autobot.”

“Oh,” Kade asked Tommy “What are we watching?”

“I don’t know, we haven’t decided.” Tommy suggested “Maybe you should ask your partner about interests so we can find something everyone will like. And that reminds me, we need to work on your robot act so Frankie doesn’t figure you out.”

Heatwave asked “Who’s Frankie?”

“Doc Greene’s daughter and I’m just using her as an example. Natives of Griffin Rock know robots, which means you need to do really good robot impressions.”

Dani came back down “Got the projector. What are we watching?”

Boulder looked at the little box in her hand “That’s supposed to make a screen big enough for all of us to see?”

Tommy took the box “My projector is 3D but I can make it 2D for TV.” He pulled out a small round device “These link up to make a picture.” He put the orb back “We should go down to the bunker.”

“Bunker?” echoed Heatwave as Dani flipped the switch and the floor lowered itself.

“Yeah. It’s underground so nobody, like Huxley, can peek inside and see you guys not acting like robots.”

“Huxley,” Boulder said “That’s the reporter’s name, right?”

“Right.” Tommy knelt down and rolled the orbs so they hit the back wall then flipped the box over and lifted a cover, “I’m going to magnetize the orbs to make them stick to the wall. I need the Bots to move away, we wouldn’t want them getting stuck to your legs.” He waited for them to move behind him then hit the button. Holding out his hand, he said “Sis, I need the TV remote to sync it.”

“I thought that remote could do the same thing.”

“It can, but the TV remote is more user friendly.”

Cody said “I’ll go get it.”

Boulder looked at Tommy “You built that?”

“Doc helped me design, build and test it. I asked why we don’t use projectors anymore and- it’s a long story but we wound up modernizing video projector technology with this.”

Cody came back, “Here.” Tommy pressed two buttons on the TV remote and the projectors turned on to create a white screen. “How-”

“It’s still synced from last time.” Tommy stood up “Now what are we gonna watch?”

Kade said “I vote for action.”

“Any objections?” No one raised their hand so he started up a spy movie. During the opening credits, he said “Remember, this is all made up, none of these events actually happened.” Charlie went upstairs to make dinner during the first part of the movie, tapping Tommy on the shoulder when it was done.

When the movie stopped suddenly, Heatwave started to ask if it was broken when Charlie spoke “I see no problem eating down here as part of bonding but I need a hand to bring dinner down.”

Tommy stood up “I’ll get the plates and silverware.”

Cody followed “I’ll get the juice and glasses.”

Kade said “I’ll help with the actual food.”

Charlie told him “Just don’t eat any on the way down.”

With the impromptu picnic laid out, Tommy hit play “Thanks for letting us do this, Uncle Charlie. We’ll have to play a robot movie next for the bots’ first lesson.”

“Not a problem, Tommy.”

After the movie, they got a call about a dinosaur attack. “The lesson will have to wait, just don’t do anything unless your handler tells you to. Cody, man the command center.”

Tommy said “The dinosaur is probably one of the robots that malfunctioned today. Frankie’s nuts about the exhibit, I’ll see if she knows where the off-switch is.”

“Good thinking. Let’s move.”

Cody suggested “You can take the tunnels.” He gave directions.

His dad said “That’ll work.” The bots followed the Burnses through the tunnels before switching to vehicle mode.

Tommy called Frankie, “Hey, those robo-dinos you love so much, they got an off switch?”

“Why? What’s happened?”

“I don’t know for sure but if you turn on the news, I bet you can see for yourself. So, off switch?”

“Yeah.” After depositing the dishes in the sink, Tommy relayed the answer through Cody to the rest of the family.

“Good work, you two.”

Tommy said “You need to get close before you trap it so Trex can’t escape.”

Graham said “Trex?”

“T-Rex. Still not anthropomorphizing.”

“What is anthropomorphizing?” asked Boulder.

“It’s treating things like people. If you were robots and I insisted you were alive then I would be anthropomorphizing.”

“Ah.”

After they got Trex back to the museum, the family returned home to finish movie night.


	3. Sound of Silence

A few days after the Burns family converted the firehouse bunker into a base for the ‘Bots, Tommy came down to breakfast and tugged on his uncle’s sleeve before signing ‘Too loud’.

The family fell silent, recognizing Tommy’s behavior. Chief Burns signed back ‘Try to sleep’. With a nod, Tommy ran back upstairs.

Waiting until his cousin was gone, Cody said “Now might be a good time to brief the Bots on Tommy’s disability.”

“Good idea. We’ll do that before we go out.”

In the bunker, Dani and Graham brushed up on their sign language while Kade said “I don’t know why you bother, the doc said a few key phrases is all we need.”

Translating his brother’s signs, Cody asked “Dad, is it possible the Bots could be a trigger?”

“No.” All of his kids looked at him “After I met Optimus, I insisted that Tommy be exposed to his team before I agreed to an alliance. None of them triggered Tommy’s sensitivity.”

Heatwave said “Uh, chief, mind cluing us?”

Cody began “In most humans, the ear takes in sound and processes it into a form that the brain can handle. Usually Tommy’s do the same thing but sometimes, like today, his ears amplify sound during the process.”

Graham said “If left alone, Tommy experiences what’s called sensory overload where he can’t function because his brain can’t process the input from all of his senses with one being amplified. Imagine being surrounded by speakers blasting out different sounds at full volume, that’s what it’s like for Tommy when he goes into overload. We can mitigate the harm by letting him stay in a quiet environment until his brain corrects the problem, or by putting on noise cancelling headphones as soon as it starts.”

Boulder said “Poor guy. You said something about triggers?”

“There are certain things that can cause the overload, we call them triggers.”

“And what’s that thing you were doing with your hands?”

Dani answered “It’s called sign language. Since Tommy’s ears are at the center of the problem, we all learned a few phrases in sign language. Or I should say Kade learned a few phrases, most of us also learned the alphabet and built on our vocabulary with Tommy.” She made two signs “This means too loud, it’s what Tommy does to say he’s going into overload. His teachers know to let him leave if he indicates his ears hurt since that’s a very simple thing to look out for.”

“What can we do to help?” asked Blades.

“When Tommy goes into overload, he usually just wants to go home and hide in his room away from all sound.” Dani said “If you pick him up during an overload, don’t talk until he’s out of earshot. Even saying something nice like ‘Feel better’ will grate on his nerves because all sound is amplified.”

Kade said “Like Graham said, imagine being surrounded by speakers on full blast. Would you want someone to add a speaker or two and call it being nice?”

“Oh.” Blades said “So don’t talk around him when he’s like this?”

Cody said “Pretty much. I’d teach you some signs but if he’s going into overload, his other senses might get a boost too and looking up towards a light source has got to hurt when your eyes get ultra-sensitive.”

Graham said “Tommy’s adapted to it well, he can sort of sense an overload before it starts.”

Cody said “Dad and Dani know where to look when the school calls to say he ran out.”

Charlie said “They used to try to keep him inside but that made him go into full overload.”

Chase said “I thought we were discussing the matter of his sensory overload.”

“Oh no, Tommy usually just passes out when he goes into full overload,” Cody frowned “I don’t think he’s ever come down from it without at least falling asleep.” He looked at the Bots “What we’re talking about is over-sensitivity, when his ears amplify instead of process sound.”

“What’s the difference?” asked Blades.

Graham answered “Over-sensitivity, like Cody, said is just one of his senses being amplified. Overload is when all of his senses get amplified. He’s smart but his brain can only handle so much input. We’ve tried different things on the few occasions he went into overload on our watch and not at school but nothing works. Blocking one sense just makes the others go haywire as his brain tries to make up for the loss. We once had to sedate him to keep him from doing permanent harm.”

“What causes his over-sensitivity?” asked Boulder.

“We don’t know.” Graham said “We know some of his triggers and we trust him not to use his condition to get out of doing something he doesn’t want to do, there’s not much else we can do.”

“What are some triggers?”

“He doesn’t like crowds, he can handle them with a lot of warning but he gets over-stimulated when he’s unexpectedly surrounded.”

“If we have an assembly at school he wasn’t warned about, he’ll run out of the building.” Cody explained “Assemblies are when the whole school is in one room, usually for an announcement or presentation.”

“If his body’s stressed then he’s more prone to overstimulation.” Kade smiled arrogantly at his family “See, I do know something about this.”

“Define stress,” said Dani.

“When he doesn’t sleep enough or skips lunch, like he did a few times because of an assembly, right?”

“That’s right.” Graham said “Tommy knows how to handle his condition but just to be safe, we include noise cancellers among our supplies.”

Charlie said “They also help if we have to respond to an explosion, like a burst gas main where there may be more to come.” A call came in that interrupted their discussion. Charlie took the call about a runaway mower bot. Between Boulder and Chase, they managed to box the bot in and safely disable it rather quickly.

Picking up on their conversation about Tommy, Boulder asked “Is there anything we should know for after Tommy’s ears go back to normal?”

Cody said “Well, he’s not allowed around any triggers for a week. It doesn’t matter if he’s spent weeks preparing, like when there’s a parade and we prepare for the crowds, he’s more likely to be triggered if it’s happened recently.”

Kade said “Yeah but do not go easy on him. He prefers if we pretend nothing happened.”

Dani agreed “Yeah. This is a part of life for him so he gets really upset when people treat him differently after they learn about his condition.”

“He carries earplugs which can sometimes keep him from needing space if he puts them in when he first starts to have symptoms,” said Graham.

“We keep noise cancellers hidden around the firehouse so he can put them on whenever they start,” said Charlie, “Cody can show you how they work. Since I’m already out, I’m gonna keep patrolling.”

At the firehouse, Cody waited for them holding a pair of earmuffs “These are what most people use. Tommy sometimes needs these on top of his earplugs.”

He put them on and Graham tried talking to him then turned to the Bots, “See? Cody can’t hear a thing and when every sound is amplified, that’s good.”

Cody slid the headphones down around his neck and pulled two earplugs out of his pocket, “These are what Tommy usually uses but he’s probably up in our room with both on just to be safe.”

“Those do the same thing as that?” asked Heatwave, pointing from the plugs to the muffs.

“Not the exact same thing. The ear plugs Doc and Tommy designed allow some sound through but it’s very quiet, a shout becomes a whisper. They wanted to be sure that he could hear in an emergency. On days like today, Tommy puts them in and tries to sleep through the episode but sometimes he can’t get home without going into overload so he goes somewhere quiet to wait for dad or Dani. On really bad days, he has to use both just to keep his own footsteps from hurting his ears.”

Blades said “I do not envy Tommy.”

“There are a few upsides,” Cody said “Having his brain work differently makes Tommy an incredible inventor. Uncle Woody said if he can go a whole school year without being triggered then he’ll bring Tommy on one of his adventures.”

Heatwave said “He’s never gone a school year without incident?”

“No but it’s getting better.” Graham said “We think he might be outgrowing the condition.”

Blades asked “Are you sure we’re not to blame?”

Cody said “We need to reset the counter anyway, I can tell you exactly how long Tommy’s gone without incident before today.”

Graham said “Good idea and I’ll make a note of today’s episode.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I needed a reason for Tommy to stay with Charlie, giving him a disability seemed like a good idea.


	4. Hotshots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crisis averted

As they raced after the out of control vehicle, Charlie asked Doc Greene “Are you alone in the car?”

“Uh, no. Tommy is with me, he’s currently trying to disable the vehicle.”

“Tommy, got any ideas for us?”

The boy looked up at his name “Box it in before we go off the road.” He went back to what he was doing.   
“You heard him team.”

Graham asked Tommy “Do you have a plan to disable the car, Tommy?”

After a moment, his cousin answered “Yes, the computer needs to turn off for Doc to brake.”

“So that’s what you’re doing,” said the scientist.

Kade said “You didn’t think to ask him?”

“I thought he was overriding the computer, not shutting it down.”

“Foot off brake, need to recalibrate.” Doc put his feet on the floor. “Hit the gas.”

He depressed the gas pedal all the way,“Oh, I see.”

“Done, ease off.” They came to a complete stop just outside town. “Need help?”

“No, thank you, Tommy.”

“Scientists rarely work alone for a reason.”

“I know but you approved the idea.”

“Development works in stages for a reason.”

Doc Greene said “I suppose you’re right.”

“Neutral,” he pointed at the car.”

“Oh!” Thankfully the car was still boxed in and simply ran into Boulder’s claw. Tommy handed the portable computer to Doc Greene. “Thank you.”

Tommy gestured to Chase “Go ahead, I need to talk to Doc about this incident.”

“Chief, I assure you I did not mean any harm.”

“I know but in the future, let me know if you’re going to test one of your inventions around civilians. I don’t need to tell you how many people you nearly hit.”

“Of course, Chief.”

Climbing inside Chase, Charlie asked Tommy “Are you okay?” The boy nodded. “Alright, good.”

“Chief, were you not concerned for Tommy’s safety?”

“I was but Tommy’s run drills with us, so has Cody. If push came to shove, he could break a window to get them both out. I trust all my kids, including my nephew.”

“I find it odd that your brother has not paid a visit.”

“Woody’s travels take him out of communication range for long periods of time, there’s no telling if he even knows about you guys.”

Tommy asked “When dad visits this year, are we gonna tell him about the Bots?”

Kade said “Yeah, I was wondering about that too. Do you think we can trust Uncle Woody?”

“They’re aliens, it’s his dream come true.”

“I know, Tommy.”

Charlie said “And he’s family, I think we’ll have to wait and see. If the Bots say it’s okay when Woody visits, we’ll tell him.”

“Alright,” said Kade “And sorry for eavesdropping.”

Tommy asked “Graham, can I use your computer?”

“Of course, but make sure you’re logged in as you.”

“Okay.”

Boulder asked “Why does he want to use your computer?”

“My computer has some engineering software that Tommy likes to use for his projects. To keep our work from getting mixed up, we made an account for him. He only has to ask in case I have a time sensitive project.”

“That’s pretty neat.”

“Yeah.”

At the firehouse, Tommy made a beeline for Graham’s room. An hour later, he got a call from Doc Greene. He opened the video chat “Doc?”

“Oh, Tommy. Is Graham around?”

“Downstairs, I think. Why? Is something wrong?”

“Not exactly.”

“You need another scientist to sign off on one of your ideas and Uncle Charlie probably won’t accept me since I signed off on the car.”

“Something like that.”

“Do you remember how we explained my mind to Kade? The rescue hero story?”

“Yes. We told him that it’s like being able to do the jobs of your whole family then having emergencies on every end of the island that need your help. How did you know what I was asking about?”

“Kade’s a glory hog and I got the feeling Dani didn’t enjoy being overwatch today, especially since Cody’s kinda got that job now.”

“Right. Well, Dani and I were thinking of adding a scoop claw to her bot.”

“Can you give me and Cody some time to talk to her? I’m not against the idea, Doc. I think it would be awesome but I can also see this hurting the family.”

“Hurting how?”

Tommy turned to his cousin at the sound of Graham’s voice and huffed “Dani wants to add a scoop claw to Blades because she felt useless today. I think the scoop claw would be awesome under the right circumstances but given Dani’s reasons, I can see her using it to steal rescues.”

“Blades? Oh, you mean the helicopter.”

Tommy smiled at her “Yeah, the helicopter’s Blades, the cruiser’s Chase, fire truck’s Heatwave and Graham’s tractor is Boulder.”

“I see you’re still anthropomorphizing.”

“I just think one word names will speed up communication, which is crucial during emergencies. I don’t know if the Bots would have to be programmed to accept names but it’s still an idea.”

Graham said “Getting back to the topic at hand, what’s your plan?”

“I want Doc to hold off until Cody and I can talk it over with Dani and maybe Uncle Charlie but like I said, I think it would be awesome in certain situations.”

“Okay. Are there any mechanical issues you could see?”

“Depends on how the claw is attached to Blades. We can’t really weld it in place because that would mess with the Bot’s ability to transform and most fixtures could come loose. We need a way to quickly attach and remove it, which will buy you time. What were you working on when Dani came in?”

“A newspaper bot.”

Tommy said “Hold on, I think I have something for that.” He found the file, “Here, I’ll send it to you.”

“Brilliant. This is exactly what I was trying to make. How long have you had this?”

“Let’s see. A couple years, looks like. I probably designed it after Graham taught me how to use the CAD program. If you look, I used a skateboard design.”

“Yes, I see. It will require tweaking but I think this might just help with my other project.”

“Fixing the car?”

“Yes.”

“Stages, doc, stages.”

“Of course, I’ve learned my lesson there.”

“Alright, I’m going to log off and talk to Dani. See you later. Unless you really do need to talk to Graham.”

“I think we’ve got everything covered, Tommy.”

Down in the bunker, Tommy asked Dani “A scoop claw, really?”

“Doc told you about that.”

“He was calling Graham, I was on Graham’s computer. Dani, there are so many things that could go wrong with that.”

“Like what?”

“Depending on how it’s attached, it could fall off at a critical moment or hurt Blades.”

“Hurt him how?” Now she was listening. Even if she didn’t want to, she knew Tommy must have put thought into this.

“Think about it Dani, Blades transforms. Sure we can see where his blades and skis wind up but we don’t really know how every part moves. We’re not talking about a paint job here, the claw would need controls installed on the inside, software that doesn’t interfere with whatever the alien equivalent is, and that’s assuming we can safely attach the claw to begin with. Dani, it’s dangerous. I talked to Doc, Graham joined the talk because I was, y’know, in his room. We agreed that the claw is a good idea but it’s not a good idea today. Doc doesn’t know Blades is an alien, he thinks I’m anthropomorphizing when I call him that.”

“You used Blades’ name in a call to Doc.”

“Dani, I actually do have a habit of anthropomorphizing. Do you remember when I was trying to convince Doc that Dither and Frankie were siblings? I’m pretty sure he remembers that but it’s beside the point. I’d be doing the install and I don’t think it’s a good idea right now. Ignoring the need for controls, do you know how big a scoop claw is? They use it for logging, for moving trees. Dani, think this through and talk to someone before you test these ideas. Maybe run them by Blades first, because I don’t think he really knew what we were talking about until I said moving trees.”

Dani turned to the Bot, who confirmed “I did not. Dani, how could you not tell me?”

“I didn’t think about the controls or any of the engineering stuff but I guess I should’ve realized a scoop claw would be big and that might be a problem.”

“Good, now I’m gonna talk to Uncle Charlie about Kade hijacking Huxley’s story on you guys. If push comes to shove, we could introduce the Bots to another part of Earth culture: pranking.”

“Now, that’s an idea.”

Tommy looked around, “I think I might need Blades’ help.”

“That’s right, dad and Chase are still on patrol.”

“Can we make dinner tonight, Dani? Uncle Charlie won’t let me cook alone and if Kade’s still being a jerk, we can be sure to make something he’ll hate.”

“Sure, Tommy.”

Blades said “You can cook, too.”

“Uh, Uncle Charlie taught me and we made a tradition where I always cook on his birthday. I’m not allowed to cook alone because standing on counters is unsanitary and I can’t reach the upper cupboards without climbing.”

“Oh. How interesting.”

Dani said “Tommy also cooks whenever Uncle Woody’s around because Uncle Woody likes to make these exotic dishes he discovered on his travels that are almost inedible.”

“When Dad’s around, we cook together. Although I will admit, it was fun to tell him that Kade can’t eat veggies and see Kade rush to correct me.”

“That was fun, and Kade never lied about a diet again.”

“Yeah.”

Dani radioed Charlie and they met on the edge of town, “What’s this about?”

Tommy answered “A few things. Dani was thinking about adding a scoop claw but we decided to wait until we had a way to do that which won’t mess with Blades’ ability to transform. I was wondering if you talked to Kade about belittling Dani’s part in the rescue because you know Huxley lives for drama and Burns’ family drama is his favorite kind. Oh and I wanted to know if Dani and I could cook tonight.”

“Are you planning a prank war?”

“It’s not really a prank if we just happen to make something Kade doesn’t like but yeah, if your talk doesn’t do much then it’s about time to introduce the Bots to that part of Earth culture.”

“Alright, I’ll talk to him. Remember the rules, I don’t want you two causing an emergency just to get back at Kade.”

“So we can cook tonight and if your talk doesn’t go well, we can declare a prank war on Kade?”

“That’s right.”

“Okay.”

As Tommy got back in Blades, Dani asked her dad “Are you really okay with this?”

“A prank war is always better than a family feud, Dani but make sure Tommy doesn’t start too soon, give me a chance to try talking to him.”

“Okay, dad. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Chase and Blades asked their handlers the same question as they left “What’s a prank war?”

“A prank war is when people pull a bunch of pranks on each other, usually to get even with them. Pranks are things like dropping water balloons on their heads and mixing hair dye into shampoo. Cody could probably explain them better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments if there's a particular episode you want me to write with Tommy


	5. Alien Invasion

When Tommy saw Huxley’s broadcast, he took the tunnels to the lab. “Hey, Doc.”

“Tommy, just in time.”

“Oh, no.”

“What?”

“What did you build Huxley?”

Frankie answered “A SETI dish.”

“Oh, then I am just in time.” Tommy asked Doc Greene “Can you tell Huxley the controls are complex and you need me to operate it?”

“Uh, sure.” As they got in the truck, Ezra asked “Why am I telling Huxley that?”

“Because he’s irresponsible. Have you seen his I Dare Me segment?”

Frankie laughed “He’s worse than your dad when it comes to responsibility.”

“I think Uncle Charlie would agree but he’s my dad so,” Tommy shrugged.

“Oh, right.”

At the dish, Doc Greene said “This technology is very delicate. Until we get the calibrations just right, I must insist Tommy remain to operate the controls.”

“Oh, sure. How do I know he’s not an alien?”

Tommy thought about his response before shrugging “How could I be an alien and have Burns’ DNA? Doesn’t being an alien mean I must have alien DNA?”

“Oh, uh, right.”

“The controls are rather user friendly but we need to make sure the dish does not overheat, if you don’t want to blow up the entire island.” Tommy asked Ezra “Can you call Uncle Charlie and see if I can spend the night with you? I’m sure Huxley isn’t planning on staying out here all night, he might miss the aliens if he’s sleep deprived.”

“I’m not convinced there are aliens but I concede your point. I will call the Chief.”

“Make sure to mention the SETI dish in case something goes wrong.”

“Will do.” The Greenes left and Tommy sat down at the controls.

“How does it work?”

“Sound and light both travel in waves. If we could see the full spectrum of light then we would probably lose our minds but machines can pick up on different wavelengths with ease. The SETI dish picks up on waves in space and alters them.”

“You lost me, kid.”

“There’s this whole range of light waves called the Electromagnetic Spectrum. The naked human eye can pick up on a small part of the spectrum.” He pointed to Huxley’s camera “Radio waves make up another part of the spectrum. TVs translate radio waves into a form we can view. This,” he waved to the controls “Does the same thing but for waves in outer space.”

“Ah, gotcha.”

“I’m not done. Unlike a TV, the SETI dish only gives us audio. So, in theory, if we did pick up on alien chatter, we might not be able to translate it if the language has a visual element like with gestures. I think that if animals had a language, it’d be very visual.”

“Huh, interesting. You know what you’re doing, kid?”

“Yes, Doc wouldn’t have asked me to babysit your machine if I didn’t.”

“Do you believe, Tommy Burns, that aliens exist?”

“I believe that space is infinite. I believe that there are an infinite number of solar systems just like our own and even more that are nothing like ours. I can’t say I believe in aliens the way you do but I do believe that Earth is not as unique as we’d like to think it is.”

“That’s quite an answer.”

“You think aliens are invading, I think aliens know as much about us as we know about them, which is nothing. I don’t think they’re a threat, I don’t think they’re coming here. I think they’re somewhere far, far away and we’re not even a blip on their radar.”

“Hm, interesting. Let’s see what the SETI has to say.”

“You realize this isn’t the only SETI in the world, Doc didn’t invent this, which means other people have spent years monitoring SETI feeds and found nothing.”

“Nothing conclusive.”

“Nothing conclusive,” agreed Tommy “But as a scientist, even a junior scientist, I think that speaks volumes. I also think you need to remember that this isn’t going to give you results in one night.”

When Huxley had him zero in on a strange signal, the reporter smugly said “You were saying about one night?”

Tommy turned the feed down as Huxley raced outside, recognizing the words. “Wait, Hux. First, you almost overloaded the power grid. Second, your proof comes from the Natives of Tatooie, my cousin Cody’s favorite movie. Third, that strange signal you had me zero in on, it was probably the Griffin Rock satellite if I know anything. Oh, and one more thing, why would aliens be speaking English? If we do find real proof, you’re not gonna know what they’re saying. I told you, this is a long term thing.”

“Oh.”

“I have a question you might be able to answer. What are crop circles to the aliens making them?” When Huxley froze up, Tommy continued “I mean, think about it. If you were an alien, would you come all this way just to mess with some crops? What’s the point?”

“Well, the popular theory is that crop circles are alien writing.”

“Really? You’re saying we have written proof of alien encounters? Why bother with the Griffin Rock satellite? According to your research, the crop circles show us where aliens frequent. C’mon! If you show me where confirmed crop circles are, we can point the SETI to the space above them.”

“Alright then.”

When Tommy got home the next day, his family was waiting for him by the tunnels. “Nice work with Huxley,” said Dani.

“Imagine if I hadn’t been there. A lot of people would listen to Huxley.”

“True.”


End file.
